The Innocent
by Piper Halliwell1
Summary: On Phoebe's way home from work, she stops by the local magic shop, only to see an innocent get attack, and later have this woman mysteriously show up in Paige's room, half dead.


The Innocent  
  
Phoebe stopped at one of the local herbal shops to pick up eye of newt. She frequented it when her sisters needed certain herbs, it would be on her way home, and it wasn't a problem for her. It had been low demon time for them, and they had been low on their stock, but they figured that they'd better be safe than sorry. This shop was the only one open at that time of night. When Phoebe entered, she quickly got the feeling that something wasn't right, but she just wanted to get in and out as fast as she could. Once she paid for the item, she walked out to her car, when she heard a scream. She stopped, dropped everything, and followed the scream. She ran to the alley nearby, and stopped. Phoebe saw a young woman fighting for her life. She quickly ran to the young woman.  
  
"Hey, get your hands off of that woman," Phoebe yelled.  
  
He quickly turned around and noticed Phoebe running toward them. He then turned back to the woman and stabbed her with an atheme. "Oh no," Phoebe whispered.  
  
The man took off, as Phoebe reached the woman. She knelt down next to her to check her pulse. It was faint. She quickly called out for Leo.  
  
"LEO!"  
  
Leo orbed in next to Phoebe.  
  
"Hurry, she's dying," as Phoebe was worried.  
  
He quickly knelt down next to the young woman. He placed his hands above the wound. A few minutes later she was coughing.  
  
"Breath slowly," Leo supposed.  
  
When the young woman gained control, she began to get frantic.  
  
"Please calm down," Phoebe said.  
  
"Who are you?" the young woman asked. "What happened?"  
  
"Some man was trying to hurt you, and I scared him off," Phoebe said, lying.  
  
"We just happened to hear you," Leo added.  
  
"Come on," as Phoebe helped the young woman to her feet. "We know someone that'll be able to help you. He's a good friend of ours."  
  
Leo and Phoebe helped the young woman to her car, and she quickly drove home.  
  
"What are we doing here," as the young woman looked out the window at the house.  
  
"Um, this is where Leo and I live," Phoebe began. "I thought it would be easy for our friend to see you here instead of some old police station."  
  
Leo and Phoebe helped the woman to the house and into the parlor. Leo was called away suddenly.  
  
"Phoebe, I just got paged, so if you need me, I'm just a call away."  
  
"Sure thing, Leo."  
  
"I'm gonna grab the phone, I'll be right back."  
  
The young woman shook her head, as Phoebe went to the hallway to get the phone. She then proceeded to dial Darryl.  
  
"Hey Darryl," Phoebe greeted.  
  
"Do you have any idea what time it is?" Darryl asked.  
  
"Sorry to call you at home, but we've got a problem."  
  
"You better not have woken me up for the d-word."  
  
"No. No. It's nothing like that.That I know of. A young woman was attacked and nearly died."  
  
"Did he steal anything? Not that I could see. He just stabbed and ran."  
  
"I'll be over there in a little while."  
  
"Ok, thanks Darryl," Phoebe said hanging up the phone.  
  
Piper was at the top of the stairs listening to Phoebe's conversation. She quickly looked up, and was startled by Piper.  
  
"What are you doing calling Darryl? Piper wondered.  
  
"Young girl was attacked and stabbed."  
  
"So that's why my husband left me."  
  
"It wasn't demonic, was it?"  
  
"I don't think so, but you never can tell."  
  
Piper continued down the stairs.  
  
"Where's Leo?"  
  
"I don't know. He got called away."  
  
Once Piper hit the bottom of the step, and stopped suddenly.  
  
"What's the matter?" as Phoebe ran to her sister's side.  
  
Piper looked up with a smile, "Its ok. The baby just kicked."  
  
"Awwww," Phoebe smiled, touching Piper's stomach.  
  
"Ok, now what's this about calling Darryl this late at night?"  
  
"Oh, a young girl that was attacked tonight."  
  
"It wasn't demonic?"  
  
"I don't think so, but we can't take any chances."  
  
Phoebe and Piper walked into the parlor and the girl was gone.  
  
"How the hell did she just disappear?? Piper asked.  
  
"I don't know."  
  
Phoebe rushed through the house to find that young woman wasn't anywhere to be found.  
  
"I don't see her Piper."  
  
"Ah, that's just as well."  
  
"Darryl will be on his way. If there's no girl, Darryl is going to be upset."  
  
"That figures," as Piper rolls her eyes. "Now we've got to locate her." "Yeah and how are we going to do to that," as Phoebe sat in the chair, as Piper sat on the couch.  
  
"Do you remember anything about the man?"  
  
"No not really. It was really dark. There was just enough light to make out what was happening."  
  
Just as Piper was about to say something, Leo orbed in.  
  
"Where's that girl??" Leo wondered.  
  
"Why?" Phoebe asked.  
  
"She's a future whitelighter. We have to protect her."  
  
"Great, now they tell us!" Piper says sarcastically.  
  
"Where is she?" Leo asked.  
  
"Well.uh.she's.missing," Phoebe stammered.  
  
"What?" Leo questioned.  
  
"We'll just have to back track.Maybe she left something at the place she was attack at," Piper suggested.  
  
****  
  
Paige heard the talking downstairs, and decided to get up to see what it was about. As she got up she tripped on her way out the door.  
  
THUD  
  
"What the hell was that," as Piper, Leo and Phoebe got up.  
  
The three ran up the stairs, only to find Paige getting up off the floor.  
  
"What the hell?" She asked turning on the light on her nightstand.  
  
She turned around to see a young blonde haired woman lying on the floor.  
  
"OH god," She knelt down beside her.  
  
She checked for a pulse, but she couldn't get one. Paige quickly checked for blood. There was blood all over the floor. She quickly got up to see that her sisters and Leo were in her room.  
  
"Who is this??" Paige asked confused.  
  
"She was our innocent," Phoebe added. "Save her Leo."  
  
Leo quickly ran to her side, and began to heal it. When it didn't seem like she'd be healed, she was. The young woman began to coughing as she was trying to breath.  
  
"Who are you?" as she back away.  
  
"Don't be alarmed.We're only here to help you," Phoebe said, coming closer.  
  
The door bell rang.  
  
"Oh that must be Darryl," Piper said, as she went to answer the door.  
  
Paige and Phoebe helped the young woman to the bed.  
  
"Are you ok?" Paige asked concerned.  
  
"Yes, I think so."  
  
"How did you get up here? Piper and I were at the stairs talking," Phoebe asked sitting next to the young woman.  
  
"I don't know. I was just sitting there, and all of a sudden some man appeared in front of me.Grabbed me, and we disappeared.It was to dark to see anything.The next thing I know, I'm a live again."  
  
Leo knelled in front of the young woman. "It appears that we don't know what your name is."  
  
"Oh, it's Marla Smith."  
  
"Well Marla, I'm Phoebe, and this is my sister Paige, and this is Leo."  
  
"Nice to meet you," as she looks to Paige and Leo.  
  
Piper headed back upstairs after explain to Darryl what really happened. He wasn't to pleased that they had woken him up during this time of the night.  
  
Phoebe sees that Piper is coming down the hall without Darryl.  
  
"Where's Darryl?"  
  
"He had to go," as Piper entered the room. "Leo should probably orb her some where safe. We'll check the book."  
  
"Where am I going?" Marla asked.  
  
"Not to fair," Leo said, holding her hands.  
  
They headed up to the attic. Once in the attic, they headed to the book.  
  
"Someone tell me what's going on?" Paige wondered.  
  
"I helped that young woman from being attacked tonight. The demon stabbed her, and Leo healed her. I had no idea it was demonic related."  
  
"She died before, too."  
  
"Ok, Phoebe, do you remember what this demon looked like?" Piper interrupted.  
  
Phoebe began to think. "Hum, well he looked human from what I could see."  
  
"So he could be half human?" Paige asked.  
  
"That doesn't give us a whole lot to go on," Piper added.  
  
Piper was flipping through the book. She came across something on demons that only have human forms, but are very deadly.  
  
"Look at this," Piper pointed out.  
  
"Man years ago, whitelighters and darklighters tried to take over the underworld, but were ostracized by the source and the elders. Over time they developed powers that were very deadly by kill all demons and all witches. These demons have their own agenda. They'll kill anyone that gets in their way, even whitelighters to be. The only being that has been able to kill these demons thus far has been the source of evil," as Paige finished reading.  
  
Phoebe recognized the demon and pointed him out, "That's the one."  
  
She immediately had a premonition. It was intense. When it was finished, Phoebe passed out cold. Piper and Paige quickly checked on Phoebe. Luckily she was still breathing.  
  
"That's strange; Phoebe's premonition never had that much effect on her before," Piper assumed. She began to worry about her sister.  
  
"Maybe it's her new astral premonition power," Paige wondered as she was worried about Phoebe.  
  
"Phoebe," Piper called, hoping that her sister would wake up.  
  
Not a sound came from Phoebe, who was lying on the attic floor. Piper and Paige began to panic. They both looked at one another, not ready to lose another sister. So, they decided to look into the book of shadows for a remedy. After a while, the only thing that they could find was a spell that Piper used on Paige when an evil story book witch sent the Woodman's after Paige, an evil Prince Charming after Phoebe, and a wolf after Piper.  
  
, but even that didn't work.  
  
"Well, it's worth a try," Paige blurted out, hoping that it really would.  
  
"I don't know. It didn't work when I used it on you."  
  
"If it doesn't work, we can call Leo."  
  
"All right. Let's do it."  
  
Piper and Paige began chanting, but unfortunately that didn't work. They both called out for Leo.  
  
"LEO," Piper and Paige yelled in unison.  
  
He orbed in as fast as they called him.  
  
"What is it?" Leo asked confused.  
  
"Phoebe had a premonition and she won't wake up," Piper began to freak out.  
  
"Piper, it's not going to help Phoebe,'' as Paige began to calm her down.  
  
Leo hurried to Phoebe's side. He quickly checked her over to make sure that she had a pulse. He then proceeded to place his hands above her, as his hands began to glow. A few minutes later, he looked back towards Piper and Paige.  
  
"I'm sorry, I can't help her. She's got to wake up on her own."  
  
"What? What are we supposed to do in the mean time? What if we need the power of three to vanquish this demon?" as Piper began to panic even more.  
  
Leo picked Phoebe up and carried her over to a couch, while Piper and Paige being to wonder if there was anything that they could do for their sister. Paige began to read more about this demon. When she finished reading, she realized that it's not good. Piper saw the look in her younger sister's eyes, but was determined to vanquish the demon and save her sister.  
  
"How do we vanquish this demon?" Piper asked. "There is no vanquish, but I don't see why we couldn't write our own spell," Paige assumed.  
  
"Get on that, and I'll figure someway to wake up Sleeping Beauty," Piper joked.  
  
Paige sat down at the table, and began to write a spell out. Piper walked over to Phoebe, and knelt beside her. With tears in her eyes, she picked up Phoebe's hand. She closed her eyes, and began to pray some thing would work.  
  
"Please Phoebe. I can't lose you. I need you.We need you. Please Phoebe!"  
  
Piper laid her head on Phoebe's stomach and began to cry. She thought that she was gonna lose another sister. Piper didn't want that to happen. She dried her tears and tried once more.  
  
"C'mon baby, help mommy, help Aunt Phoebe," Piper said, as she rubbed her tummy.  
  
Piper closed her eyes, and took a deep breath, as she clasped hands with Phoebe. A glow emanated so brightly, that it Leo and Paige turned around to see Piper. Shortly thereafter, Phoebe was sitting up awake, wonder what had happened. Piper wasn't quite sure, but she knew it must have been the baby's doing.  
  
"Phoebe," Paige screeched, as she jumped up and ran over to Phoebe.  
  
Phoebe looks at Paige wonder why Paige was acting so funny. Piper gets up and sits next to Phoebe.  
  
"Why is everyone looking at me?? Why I am on the couch?" Phoebe asked confused.  
  
"Phoebe, you were knocked on unconscious for a little while," Leo added.  
  
"Did you have a premonition?" Piper asked.  
  
Phoebe stopped to think about what she remembered. A few minutes later, she was up on her feet, walking over to the book of shadows. She looked down at the picture, and looked back up at her family.  
  
"I remember I was over here. I touched the pa."Phoebe trailed off remembering why she passed out first place. She quickly pulled her hands away from the book. "I touched the page and I got a premonition. It was so strong I remember falling to the floor."  
  
"What was it about?" Piper wondered. "I saw the demon killed you and Piper, and then killed our innocent."  
  
"Where were you?" Piper wondered.  
  
"I'm not sure," Phoebe added. "Maybe passed out still."  
  
"I've got a power of three spell," Paige said, standing up. "There was no spell, so hopefully this will work."  
  
Phoebe walked over to Paige to read the spell. A few minutes later, she was done reading.  
  
"That's great," Phoebe said, as she began to have another premonition.  
  
This time it was her new power taking over. The wind began blowing out of nowhere. She began stumbling around before she flew against the wall. Her sisters and Leo ran over to Phoebe to make sure she was ok.  
  
"Phoebe?" Paige asked.  
  
Phoebe opened her eyes and looked at everyone realizing that she was alive.  
  
"Ow," as Phoebe began rubbing her side. "Wow, that's some powers."  
  
How Prue ever get used to it, I don't know, Phoebe wondered as she rose to her feet.  
  
"Why did she have another premonition?" Paige asked.  
  
"Maybe because the baby changed the future for you," Piper wondered.  
  
"The baby?" Phoebe asked.  
  
"The baby is what brought you back." Piper believed.  
  
"What was in you premonition," Leo interrupted.  
  
"The demon blowing into the attic like a tornado; flicking his hand at Piper and Paige and they flew across room and Leo you flying out the window."  
  
Before anyone had a chance to answer, the demon blew into the attic, just as Phoebe's premonition had told her. Piper flew over and landed on the couch. Paige hit the wall, and Leo flew out the window. Phoebe got in her stance to fight the demon, but he was to strong for her, as she flew up against the wall as well. Leo orbed back in, as the demon was standing over Phoebe's body.  
  
"Whitelighter we meet again, at last..You're going to die along with your witches," The demon said, as Piper rose to her feet. With one flick of her hands, the demon froze.  
  
"C'mon girls, we've got demon ass to vanquish here," Piper yelled. "I'll talk to you later, Leo."  
  
Paige got up rubbing her bottom, but she didn't let that bother her, as she ran over to Phoebe. Phoebe was just starting to come of it as Paige yanked her to her feet. They gather by Piper, clasped hands, and began chanting,  
  
"The Power of Three will set those victims free Die 100 times as Death takes you with every kill you made."  
  
The demon screamed as he was being sucked into the floor. The last thing they heard was loud pop.  
  
"That was easy," Paige joked.  
  
"Let's just hope that no more come by," Piper added.  
  
"I don't think they will," Leo said.  
  
Piper turned to Leo, but before she could say anything, he orbed out.  
  
"Agh," She signed. "I guess I'll never know how Leo knew that demon."  
  
"He did?" Paige and Phoebe asked in unison.  
  
"Yeah, they knew each other, but I didn't give him much time," as Piper said sarcastically.  
  
"At least everything will be normal for awhile," Phoebe assumed.  
  
"Yes, let's hope," Piper said, as they headed out of the attic.  
  
The End 


End file.
